Program Information
Women in Medical Physics - Latin America and Africa
E Lief
S Guzman
V Tsapaki
Y Pipman
E Lief1*, S Guzman2*, V Tsapaki3*, Y Pipman4*, (1) Marsden Medical Physics Associates, Pelham, NY, (2) (3) Konstantopoulio General Hospital, Nea Ionia, Athens,(4) Forest Hills, NY
Presentations
TU-F-213-0 (Tuesday, July 14, 2015) 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM Room: 213
The medical physics profession contributes considerably to the safety of healthcare providers, patients and the general public. Their imperative role within the clinical environment and in particular in cancer treatment, shielding design, equipment room construction, patient and staff monitoring is well known and acknowledged in developed regions of the world. However, this is not apparent in developing countries. The differences between continents are quite large within Africa and Latin America having among the lowest level of medical physics services around the world.
The contribution of women to science is well known from the earliest times. There is strong belief that gender disparity in science is improving as there is an enormous literature that deals with the representation of women in the professional environment in general. There are also attempts to explain the lack of women in science, such as societal discouragements, innate differences in ability between the sexes, or differences in aspirations. Moreover, the latest “She Figures” report produced by the European Commission on gender equality in science revealed that despite progress, gender inequalities in science tend to persist. It was also noted that the proportion of women falls to the lowest levels at the top of the academic hierarchy, dropping down to just 18% of highest academic staff.
The role and responsibilities of medical physicists around the world is not well known. This is even more pronounced when focusing to women and to less developed regions of the world. In Latin America the work of women in medical physics has been increasing into leadership and important positions to strengthen medical physics. In some countries, like Brazil, the presence of women in the field of medical physics has statically increased (about 50%). There is a joint task between institutions, professionals and stakeholders to continue to reduce the differences between men and women in an effort to make women more valued and it is an import factor in the equality of education. In Africa the challenges are even more. In this session, the latest data focused in Africa and Latin America regions will be presented.
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